Historic background

Period: I. Pre Baroque - before 1650

One of my primary goals in this blog is to help the listener quickly and easily find ways to appropriately catalog any given work, composer, etc. and to provide a context or framework to better understand that particular period of time. The tcpclassical.com home page maintains a constant visual reference to the seven periods that I believe offer a timeline point of reference from the inception of classical music in the Renaissance through today. A key reason for referencing Beethoven early in this series of blogs was to provide an example that is a household name in the context of western classical music. Mention the name Beethoven, and virtually anyone will know a) that he is considered one of the great masters of the art and b) that he comes from an earlier period of time, probably a great many years prior to today. By quickly narrowing the period of time in which he actively created his compositions (i.e. Early Romantic), the listener can begin to immediately understand more about the man, his circumstances and the world in which he lived. Using Beethoven's catalog of available works on CD - as noted in the last available printed media edition of Schwann Opus (Winter 1998-1999) as a point of reference to the Pre Baroque era, Beethoven's recorded works on CD commanded 32 pages of printed material while the top 10 Pre Baroque composers combined commanded a total of 6 pages. My interpretation of this simple reference is that the Pre Baroque period is just that; the gestation period leading up the point where classical music matured and became known as its own genre through the compositions of classical masters such as Bach, Haydn and Beethoven (all recent blogs). Most of the compositions in my library from the Pre Baroque era mirror the period; eclectic works based on shorter, more simplistic religious or folk themes. I have a few works by Gabrielli (6), Monteverdi (3) including a complete recording of his Vespers of 1610, Palestrina (3), Praetorius (4) and Tallis (2). I also have a wonderful recording of the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos singing a compilation of Gregorian chants that I would heartily recommend. Most of my other Pre Baroque music can be found on this limited edition recording by the Music of the Baroque in Chicago entitled Renaissance Christmas I', the first of a two volume set. If Pre Baroque Renaissance music is to your liking you may wish purchase these volumes from the Music of the Baroque. They would be very grateful for your support.

Early baroque music (16001654)

It is conventionally accepted that the division between the Renaissance and the Baroque period began in Italy with the formation of the Florentine Camerata, a group of humanists, musicians, poets and intellectuals in late Renaissance Florence who gathered under the patronage of Count Giovanni de' Bardi to discuss and guide trends in the arts, especially music and drama.[citation needed] In reference to music, their ideals were based on their perception of Classical (especially ancient Greek) musical drama, in which discourse and oration was viewed with much importance.[9] As such, they rejected the complex polyphony of the late Renaissance and sought to revive an ancient Greek form of musical drama known as a monody, which consisted primarily of a simple solo melody alongside by a basic accompaniment.[10] The early realizations of these ideas, including Jacopo Peri's Dafne and L'Euridice, marked the beginning of opera,[11] which in turn can be considered to have marked the catalyst of Baroque music.[12]

Middle baroque music (16541707)

The rise of the centralized court is one of the economic and political features of what is often labelled the Age of Absolutism, personified by Louis XIV of France. The style of palace, and the court system of manners and arts which he fostered, became the model for the rest of Europe. The realities of rising church and state patronage created the demand for organized public music, as the increasing availability of instruments created the demand for chamber music. This included the availability of keyboard instruments. The middle Baroque is separated from the early Baroque by the coming of systematic thinking to the new style and a gradual institutionalization of the forms and norms, particularly in opera. As with literature, theprinting press and trade created an expanded international audience for works and greater cross-pollination between national centres of musical activity. The middle Baroque, in music theory, is identified by the increasingly harmonic focus of musical practice and the creation of formal systems of teaching. Music was an art, and it came to be seen as one that should be taught in an orderly manner. This culminated in the later work of Johann Fux in systematizing counterpoint.

Lascaux II, a replica of two of the cave halls the Great Hall of the Bulls and the Painted Gallery was opened in 1983, 200 meters from the original.
[4]

Reproductions of other Lascaux

artwork can be seen at the Centre of Prehistoric Art at Le Thot, France. Since 1998 the cave has been beset with a fungus, variously blamed on a new air conditioning system that was installed in the caves, the use of high-powered lights, and the presence of too many visitors.
[6]

As of 2008, the cave contained black mold which scientists were and still are

trying to keep away from the paintings. In January 2008, authorities closed the cave for three months even to scientists and preservationists. A single individual was allowed to enter the cave for 20 minutes once a week to monitor climatic conditions. Now only a few scientific experts are allowed to work inside the cave and just for a few days a month but the efforts to remove the mold have taken a toll, leaving dark patches and damaging the pigments on the walls. In its sedimentary composition, the Vzre drainage basin covers one fourth of the dpartement of the Dordogne, the northernmost region of the Black Perigord. Before joining the Dordogne River near Limeuil, the Vzre flows in a south-westerly direction. At its centre point, the river's course is marked by a series of meanders flanked by high limestone cliffs that determine the landscape. Upstream from this steep-sloped relief, near Montignac and in the vicinity of Lascaux, the contours of the land soften considerably the valley floor widens, and the banks of the river lose their steepness. The Lascaux valley is located some distance from the major concentrations of
[7]